oworthsr
US Veteran
I've experienced nothing lonelier than being deployed to a far-away, remote outpost, for a year at a time, with no face-to-face human contact save the 20 men with whom I was deployed. This was especially so during a holiday period.
I've done that twice.
The valuable tactic I employed was to never be alone for more than one waking hour. Although the loneliness lessened after the holiday was over, it never really disappeared. Comrades began to wear on each other's nerves, and close friendships became strained. Letters from home were especially cherished during those times...much more so than the infrequent short-wave radio sourced phone call, because a letter could be re-read any place, and at any time you found yourself slipping into that "mood."
One Christmas, my favorite aunt recorded and mailed to me a casette tape that included brief messages from all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. I played that casette many a night. Even today - more than 50 years later - those cassette-taped messages stand out above most every memory of those times.
There are three things all wise men fear: a stormy sea, a moonless night, and the anger of a gentle man.
Reach out to someone deployed over this holiday season, even if its someone you don't really know. Who knows? You might create a valuable friendship.
I've done that twice.
The valuable tactic I employed was to never be alone for more than one waking hour. Although the loneliness lessened after the holiday was over, it never really disappeared. Comrades began to wear on each other's nerves, and close friendships became strained. Letters from home were especially cherished during those times...much more so than the infrequent short-wave radio sourced phone call, because a letter could be re-read any place, and at any time you found yourself slipping into that "mood."
One Christmas, my favorite aunt recorded and mailed to me a casette tape that included brief messages from all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. I played that casette many a night. Even today - more than 50 years later - those cassette-taped messages stand out above most every memory of those times.
There are three things all wise men fear: a stormy sea, a moonless night, and the anger of a gentle man.
Reach out to someone deployed over this holiday season, even if its someone you don't really know. Who knows? You might create a valuable friendship.
